For Life
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: One might say he has a few choice words for the Batman in regards to erasing his memories and chucking him away, yet with the Batman one should always expect the unexpected.


_Disclaimer – I don't own Batman. Warning: Canon character is majorly hurt in this fanfic. This was written for Wattpad Superhero profile's January challenge and was added to their anthology collection. The prompt involves villains having their memories wiped, and one villain finding out._

 **For Life…**

The ink swam in front of his eyes, making the young man draw in his breath tightly. The memory pounded in the back of his mind, bursting forth in a manner which left…

Christopher Slater's fist pounded into the shelf of the newspaper archive, bruising the knuckles in the process. Except, the fist in question didn't belong to a man named Christopher Slater, but a man of a different name. Christopher Slater was, in fact, a work of fiction, one even more of a myth than the Batman. A curse escaped his lips, his hands shoving into his pocket, knowing full well he wanted to confront someone.

Years couldn't erase his temper after all.

Forgetting the college coursework which brought him into the newspaper archives in the first place completely, he headed to Wayne corporations and stood in front of the receptionist. The woman in question looked up at him, her eyes widening. "May I help you?"

"Could you tell Bruce Wayne that Jason Todd would like to see him?"

"Sir, if you don't have an appointment…"

Jason wished to aim at her head, to say, " _you've got my appointment right here_ ". Except, he didn't have a gun. "I simply said to tell him I wanted to see him."

"I can set up an appointment. What…" A death glare made the woman pick up the phone instead, calling up to the old man upstairs. Her voice trembled slightly, yet… "Are you sure sir? That's…" Her shaking hands wrote something down, which she fearfully pushed towards the young man.

"What is this?"

"Mr. Wayne asked you meet him there. Please don't hurt him."

Jason crumbled the paper in his hand. "I've plenty reason to be ticked off with him sweetie, so don't tell…"

"Not Mr. Wayne. I mean…" The woman looked away. "Never mind. I shouldn't have said anything."

Grumbling, Jason left, having caught a glance at the street written on the paper before heading to the bus. Getting on, the young man sulked, his entire body stiff from anger. "How could he?"

Jason knew full well five years ago the world decided to reform certain villains once caught, and he'd been one of them. Sure, he'd not _been_ a villain with any major superpowers but taking down the Joker put Red Hood up at the top of the list of people to worry about. Strangely, he'd read articles regarding the Red Hood in the archives in his college research, yet what triggered the memory was a different article, one involving Dick Grayson and his younger siblings.

Jason Todd wasn't even mentioned like the other two, simply a brief mentioning of his name and how he'd run away. Closing his eyes, waiting to arrive at the destination, Jason took a deep breath. "Of course, he'd want to turn the imperfect son into the perfect one." Glancing back at the address, Jason mused over the address, only to flinch upon realizing the location. "Shit. If he thinks he can erase my memories again, he's got something coming."

The address was the hospital, and Jason found himself heading in, fully planning to destroy the machine which gave him the new life he didn't want even without any weapons. He'd improvise, and did so by walking to the room in question and grabbing the fire extinguisher located behind the nurse's station, making the woman start to call security as he proceeded to kick the door in…

… to the room of a patient.

Jason choked, the blade of a rather perturbed sixteen-year-old pointed at his throat, a rather irate Damien standing as a protective barrier against any unwanted intruder. A book lay on the ground, forgotten, yet evident the young Wayne's attention focused on reading to the patient lying in the bed.

Who, unfortunately, wasn't the old man.

Jason swallowed, his mind attempting to take in the situation as the guards grabbed him from behind. The youngest member of the Wayne family took a deep breath. "Wait. He's okay."

Shrugging off the security guards, Jason stepped further into the room, getting a better look at the patient while Damien watched carefully, sheathing his blade. How Bruce convinced the staff Damien's blade was allowed _in_ the hospital, Jason didn't know, but he cursed the fact Bruce likely wouldn't allow him a gun in here. Again, he swallowed, the disbelief settling in. "How?"

"We don't talk about it."

Meaning something happened in their other life. Jason sat down in the chair Damien likely occupied only a few minutes later, staring. He found himself brought out of his trance a few minutes later upon hearing Tim's voice coming from the doorway. "I got a message that someone tried breaking into Richard's…" A glance at the second youngest and Jason watched Tim's panicked face changed to absolutely pissed. "Oh. It's you."

"It's me." Jason turned his head to look at the patient lying in the bed. "Though honestly, that should be me, not him."

Damien looked at the floor, worrying his mouth, indicating the brat thought similarly, yet Tim's glare indicated he wished it was Jason instead of – well, who it was in the bed. A silence fell over the room, and Jason moved closer, not speaking, simply watching the person sleep. After all, Dick looked asleep. However, the major loss of muscle tone Jason knew should be there made his stomach churn. "How long?"

"Since the memory wipe." Bruce's voice made Jason want to spit. "May I speak with Jason alone?"

The other two reluctantly left, and Jason turned to glare at the man as the door clicked shut behind the two younger family members. "So, what? You had my memory wiped like all the other villains because you couldn't live with the fact I'm a bad guy?"

"How did your memories trigger? Seeing Red Hood should have done nothing."

"Like, my real name?" Jason stood, nearly knocking over the chair. "And what about dickie-bird? Actually, give real answers for once, stupid old man!" Bruce said nothing, so Jason came to his own conclusions. "Wait? Do you blame me for this? You know that as much as an I despise you and the world, I'd never, ever hurt one of my siblings! They're the one thing I'd never, ever touch!"

"I know that. But what about yourself?"

"What about…" The young man's eyes closed. "Stop acting like you care, or are trying to protect me. You're as self-centered as always. You erased my memories for your own sake!"

"Oh. Yes. I am self-centered. After all, I've kept Dick on life support for five years even though the doctors say there is no chance of him waking up, and if he does – well, he won't be able to walk." Bruce glared at Jason. "I didn't erase your memories for myself."

"Then what! Why did you let them do it?"

"Do you want to be the person Dick belied you could be or not?"

"I hate you!" Jason stormed out the room, shoving his hands into his pockets, a sour taste left in his mouth. He'd never forgive Bruce for finding one last way to manipulate things into his control, and yet he also couldn't forget.


End file.
